Disposable refuse bags have typically involved the use of 3-mil polyethylene films which are formed into bags and provided on rolls for use in the containment or collection of lightweight refuse, preferably refuse which does not have any sharp edges, points or other protuberances which could cause the bag to rip or tear. Moreover, such bags are limited in the weight of the contents to normally 20 to 25 pounds, which means that a large majority of the bag is unfilled and therefore unused.
When such bags are used on construction sites for containing, for instance, bricks, drywall pieces, two-by-fours with our without nails protruding therefrom, slate, tree limbs, cable, masonry, shingles, insulation, pipe, wire, gravel, metal or glass shards, typically these bags fail by either stretching and rupture due to the weight of the contents within the bag when the bag is lifted; or due to the puncturing, slicing or piercing of the bag film which has very little shear resistance. In such cases that the puncture or hole produced propagates rapidly to cause the contents of the bags to spill out through the rip or unintended opening of the bag.
Typically for construction sites, in the past, rubberized barrels were utilized to contain the refuse that existed at the site. However, these barrels are both expensive and are subject to theft. Moreover, the barrels themselves take up a considerable amount of space and are relatively heavy in and of themselves. The amount of rubber necessary to form such barrels causes such barrels to weigh, for instance, ten pounds without being filled. Also, these barrels, due to their cost, are not throwaway items and must be stored when not in use.
Though the barrels themselves may be nested to reduce the amount of storage space, when these barrels are nested they oftentimes stick to each other and are difficult to dislodge.
The result for one cleaning up a jobsite is either to use the expensive, large barrels or to utilize polyethylene continuous film bags, both of which are unsatisfactory for the above reasons.